Senate Says “No” To Help For Homeowners In Bankruptcy Court.

Congress could help homeowners in trouble, but once again has said a loud “NO” to help for homeowners in need. Today the Senate did not vote to support S.R. Bill 256 which could have helped so many families facing loss of their homes. Something has to be done to give some relief to troubled homeowners, to keep families in their homes, and also to keep home values from tumbling further down as foreclosures bring all housing prices down! Please contact your Senator and tell them that you want them to support measures to help out homeowners, and that allowing United States Bankruptcy Judges to oversee that help in a specific and controlled manner is a good idea. The fight to get much needed help for this mortgage crisis is not over, and consumer groups are banding together to continue efforts to pass protective laws.

Read the Press Release:

Senate Throws Out Single Most Needed Step to Help Millions of American Families Keep Their Homes

Joint Statement from Civil Rights, Consumer, & Housing Groups

Washington, DC - More than 15 national organizations (listed below) issued the following joint statement in response to the Foreclosure Prevention Act and its failure to include bankruptcy measures:

“The Senate Housing package misses the single most significant step needed to help the 20,000 American families with subprime loans that are losing their homes each week through foreclosure: the bankruptcy amendment.

We are left with a bill loaded with special considerations for mortgage companies and builders that does very little for homeowners who were sold predatory loans by mortgage lenders.

Any final bill hammered out between the U.S. House and Senate that is a serious effort to stem the foreclosure crisis must include meaningful relief to families to modify their mortgage in bankruptcy. Bankruptcy relief will stabilize communities, keep more than half a million families in their homes and provide lenders at least as much income as they would receive through foreclosure.

As the Senate bill stands, we will continue to see foreclosures tear down communities and wipe out the most important source of financial security that most Americans have.

We are encouraged that there is recognition that the bill under consideration by the U.S. Senate today is only part of the solution. Without bankruptcy relief, Congress will be condemning hundreds of thousands of American families this year to losing their homes.?

Center for Responsible Lending

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

ACORN

American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

Consumer Action

Consumer Federation of America

Consumers Union

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.

National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA)

National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys

National Consumer Law Center

National Association of Neighborhoods

National Community Reinvestment Coalition

National Council of La Raza

National Fair Housing Alliance

Opportunity Finance Network

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

See also Lenders Are Fighting Against Help For Homeowners In Bankruptcy by Susanne Robicsek, North Carolina Bankruptcy Attorney